Cybercriminals are increasingly trying to mislead Dutch people. In the first eight months of this year, the Fraude Helpdesk received 713 reports of spoofing. This means that you see a different phone number or e-mail address than the one of the person actually calling or e-mailing.
For friend-in-need fraud, criminals often use a random phone number. You then get a message from an unknown number, with the scammer posing as a friend or family member in acute need, asking for money.
Calling someone with another phone number in the picture is relatively easy. It doesn’t even require hacking; you just need the right app.
Scammers also use bank phone numbers for bank help desk fraud; people think that the bank was contacting them about bank cards or accounts but it’s actually a cybercriminal. Providers and banks have taken measures to prevent scammers from using these types of numbers. More and more cases of bank help desk fraud are coming to light: 2,643 reports between January and August this year, compared with 918 reports during the same period last year.
Related Posts
